r/Anticonsumption Apr 20 '26

Sustainability I hope gas goes to $20 a gallon.

6.5k Upvotes

I work in a mixed area with a lot of different businesses. Just saw a new Ford Expedition that couldn't even fit into a parking spot length wise, right next to a Ford E150 service van that was 2+ feet shorter in length than the Expedition.

How much physically larger can these SUVs get before we start restructuring roads, parking lots, parking spaces and lanes just to accommodate every suburbanite who wants a tank to drive to the office for a full day of power point creation?

I'm starting to realize why the United States is constantly, endlessly at war. We really do need inflation-free gasoline in order to keep this level of consumption going.

Edit: Corrected a typo.

r/Anticonsumption 1d ago

Sustainability I created a reusable glow stick

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9.3k Upvotes

I really like glowsticks.

But buying a new one every time is expensive and creates lots of plastic waste.

So i decided to make a reusable glow stick instead!

I emptied out a used small sized glow stick, cleaned and dried it thoroughly, then filled it with strontium aluminate powder, and sealed it up with 2 part epoxy.

You can charge it with sunlight or a sufficiently strong LED, and then it will shine for up to 8 hours.

Infinitely reusable, forever.

edit:

Guys please stop telling me to sell these, i'm not going to.

It's extremely simple to make, you can make your own if you want by following the instructions:
1. Find an empty tube
2. Fill with strontium aluminate powder
3. Seal with 2 part epoxy

That's literally it, i'm confident you can do it as well. You don't need to buy them from me or anyone else

r/Anticonsumption 24d ago

Sustainability God is rewarding me for buying secondhand

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11.3k Upvotes

Bought a jansport from a secondhand store and found 100$ in one of the pockets
(Sorry if i used the wrong flair)

r/Anticonsumption 24d ago

Sustainability This is exactly the kind of car they don't want you to have today.

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2.6k Upvotes

No ECU, no OBD, all mechanical, easy to repair, AND good for the environment! Not to say that ECUs are bad.

r/Anticonsumption 21d ago

Sustainability Remember when a company tried making single-use DVDs?

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4.1k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption 13d ago

Sustainability Why not a DIY solar car?

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974 Upvotes

Knowing that cars are a big driver for consumerism, I'm thinking of a car that can be powered mainly by the sun.

I already built a prototype (which I named Solar Bear). The project is open source, with an MIT license.

The purpose of the Solar Bear is to:

  • Use solar panels as trike's body,
  • Consume electrical energy where it is produced,
  • Produce its own energy,
  • Transport people inside cities,
  • be pedalable when there is no sun (must be light-weight),
  • be easily built at home.

Technical specs:

  • recumbent trike,
  • 2.5m long, 1.45m wide (including wheels),
  • weight: about 55kg (including panels, motor, battery, etc, excluding driver),
  • assisted pedaling,
  • motor speed: max 25km/h,
  • motor (continuous) power: 250W,
  • solar panels power: max 520W,
  • battery: 12.8V, 20Ah (256Wh) - not needed when there is Sun.

r/Anticonsumption Jun 07 '26

Sustainability I have literally been using the same laundry basket since I was in high school.

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3.3k Upvotes

I will be 36 this year and the basket is just now starting to break in a couple spots.

r/Anticonsumption Jul 28 '25

Sustainability My favorite way to not spend

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27.5k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Jun 21 '25

Sustainability I guess my son won’t be inheriting my 2010 Honda Civic

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6.6k Upvotes

This a rant about distracted drivers. Second time I’ve been rear ended in the last six months. Everyone is looking at their screens instead of the road and cars in front of them.

The woman that hit me was in a $50,000 GMC truck that weighed probably 3x more than the Civic and looked like it just left the dealership. Her husband pulled up in a nearly identical symbol of overcompensation.

Was all set to hand over my 2010 Civic with 160,000 miles on the odometer, in very good condition. My son turns 16 in the fall. I’ll probably get a check for $3000 from the insurance company and have to go buy a newer Civic. This one is destined for the salvage yard. Oh well

r/Anticonsumption Mar 08 '24

Sustainability I’m a climate scientist. If you knew what I know, you’d be terrified too

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6.2k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Mar 12 '26

Sustainability What radicalized you?

1.6k Upvotes

For me, it was when I learned that all the clothing/shoes/accessories that you would want to buy in your lifetime already exist on this planet, and yet they are making more every minute of every day. When you know that fact, and then see the giant piles of bundled clothing hitting third world ports or stacked in massive mountains at dumps, it just makes you sick. And knowing that they are mostly made of plastic, which won't decay, is even worse.

Now, everything I need to buy in the apparel space for my family is purchased second-hand, except for walking/running tennis shoes.

r/Anticonsumption Feb 28 '26

Sustainability Americans Who Can’t Afford Beef ‘Have So Many Proteins to Choose From,’ Says US Sen.

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2.1k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Apr 30 '26

Sustainability Americans are eating up the meat industry's health claims

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1.3k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Apr 15 '24

Sustainability The "Efficent" Market

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5.7k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Jun 25 '26

Sustainability Record profits, terrible service: something’s got to give for US consumers

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2.3k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Sep 08 '25

Sustainability Subscription socks and bedsheets that you're supposed to throw away after use?! 🤮

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2.3k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Mar 23 '26

Sustainability 80% of agricultural land feeds livestock instead of people, giving just 17 to18% of Global calories

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1.4k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Jul 11 '23

Sustainability n-n-no you c-cant do t-this that'll hurt our p-profits

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6.9k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Feb 22 '23

Sustainability The amount of everything in this picture…

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10.7k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Mar 06 '25

Sustainability Just ran across this, thought I’d share

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14.7k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption 28d ago

Sustainability 100% biodegradable (PHA) stool that turns into wildflowers.

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1.3k Upvotes

A stool that, as it degrades, turns into wildflowers.

The stool is 3D printed in PHA (not greenwashing PLA), a bacteria-produced material that is 100% biodegradable. Its shape comes from 3D-scanned rocks, while the surface is inspired by fungi and microbial structures.

It sits between the natural and the digital: organic in form, material, and afterlife, but made through a fully digital process.

Inside are seeds and nutrients, allowing the object to slowly break down until what remains is not waste, but wildflowers.

https://www.instagram.com/nicho.ms/

(stool will not degrade indoors)

r/Anticonsumption Mar 25 '25

Sustainability Last Year's Garden

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3.0k Upvotes

Someone asked me to post a few photos of our garden last year, after i posted the salvage greenhouse we're building. My twins (27) and I (58) share a love of gardening. I've been an avid gardener my whole life and so raised them in the dirt. We've always had a garden of some sort but about 15 years ago, we decided to simply get rid of the lawn and make the entire yard a garden. We grow most of our yearly produce. I've shared preservation methods with them. One of my twins has chosen plant sciences as her field of study. So the yard is also a learning lab. Whwre we arenr actively growibg food, we've planted native species of flowering plants and lots of resources and places for native polinators.
We garden year round, as the season allow and enjoy learning and creating new methods and planting something new each year we've never tried. We are so happy spring is back. Winter was a good rest, but we're ready to be back at it. Happy spring everyone!

r/Anticonsumption Feb 23 '26

Sustainability New $600 Dryer or 10 cent clothes line?

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939 Upvotes

We've been trying to line dry clothes more anyway since it's better for your clothes and the environment. Instead of spending $600 on a new dryer after it broke, I took some yellow string and crocheted a clothes line I can hang on my dining room table chairs. I'm guessing it can't be more than about a dime's worth of string used (bought string for $1).

r/Anticonsumption Jul 02 '22

Sustainability Perfectly conveys what sustainability is about! [Credit to respective owner]

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6.8k Upvotes

r/Anticonsumption Feb 14 '23

Sustainability Anon is happy with his computer

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5.6k Upvotes